Neuromolecular medicine
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Neuromolecular medicine · Jun 2015
The Domain II S4-S5 Linker in Nav1.9: A Missense Mutation Enhances Activation, Impairs Fast Inactivation, and Produces Human Painful Neuropathy.
Painful small fiber neuropathy is a challenging medical condition with no effective treatment. Non-genetic causes can be identified in one half of the subjects. Gain-of-function variants of sodium channels Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 have recently been associated with painful small fiber neuropathy. ⋯ Voltage-clamp analysis showed that the mutation hyperpolarizes (-10.1 mV) channel activation, depolarizes (+6.3 mV) steady-state fast inactivation, slows deactivation, and enhances ramp responses compared with wild-type Nav1.9 channels. Current-clamp analysis showed that the G699R mutant channels render dorsal root ganglion neurons hyperexcitable, via depolarized resting membrane potential, reduced current threshold and increased evoked firing. These observations show that the domain II S4-S5 linker plays an important role in the gating of Nav1.9 and demonstrates that a mutation in this linker is linked to a common pain disorder.